It’s June end, storage in Vidarbha reservoirs only half of last year

Nagpur: It’s June end and even after initial rounds of rains, water level in dams of Vidarbha is half than what was during the same period last year. According to data compiled by the water resources department (WRD), 18 large dams of Nagpur division have been left with 4.81% water as on June 26. This comes to 170.12 million cubic meters (MCM). During the same period last year the dams had 321 MCM water, which is 12.45% of the total capacity.
In Amravati division, there are seven large dams that are now left with 168 MCM or 11.74% water. This is less than half of the last year when there was 357 MCM water. The situation is similar in medium and minor irrigation projects of the region.
The level at Totladoh dam that caters to Nagpur city continues to remain below the dead storage. Last year, the dam had 5.28% water during the same period. The recent showers have not led to any major change in the water storage here, said a source.
However, there has been a major respite for Buldhana district which is going through the worst water crisis in Vidarbha. The district that has been facing a dry spell since last three years got 12.42% rains in over a week’s time. On June 27 alone the district received 30mm rain which is 57% of the total rainfall of the season here so far. The district had not receive any rain on June 27 last year.
A source in the WRD said the rains have filled up the Yeulgaon reservoir, which caters to Buldhana city, up to 61% of its capacity. Though it is a small project, this will do away with the drinking water problem of at least the city.
The level in Pentakali dam, a large project, has also inched up to 0.9%. There has been no much change in other projects like Nalganga or Khadakpurna which are also large dams with level touching nil.
Meanwhile, drinking water continues to be supplied through tankers in large parts of the hinterland in the district. Gopal Dhage of Chincoli village where each family gets water under a fixed quota system said it rained well in the last week, and farmers have begun sowing activities. “If it rains well for another week or so people would be able to draw water from hand pumps,” he said.